


Pink

by Lilly_White



Series: Aeris/Sephiroth Fics [3]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alpha!Aeris, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, F/M, Gratuitous Smut, Omega!Sephiroth, Pegging, Ye Olde Trope of the Vanished Suppressants, exploring Aeris' Big Strap Energy, mentions of mpreg, this is just a whole bunch of indulgence OK
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:28:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24437461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilly_White/pseuds/Lilly_White
Summary: Sephiroth never, ever made mistakes.Until he did.
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough/Sephiroth
Series: Aeris/Sephiroth Fics [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1357579
Comments: 25
Kudos: 118
Collections: ff7omegaverseweek





	Pink

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the FFVII A/B/O week!  
> Posting early because I'm not gonna be around this weekend to post it!! :'D So during quarantine I've fallen down an omegaverse rabbit hole lol. I've been writing a historical omegaverse novel that doesn't allow for the type of sci-fi indulgences you can find in fic, so, this was just me going all out with the more classic tropes of this wonderful genre. I shoved all the good shit in here as this is the only entry I can allow myself. Hopefully it all makes sense lol. So uhh... yeah. That's it as far as excuses go. :'D Enjoy!!

*

Everyone assumed that Sephiroth was an alpha. He didn’t exactly have to try and keep up any type of façade - it came easily to him, the intimidation, the ferocious strength, the protectiveness over his friends. Pack instincts bloomed naturally between war fellows. No one suspected that his own pack instincts stemmed from genuine care for his friends rather than the primal urge to dominate and watch over those weaker than him.

He had always taken heat-suppressants as long as Aeris had known him. Nobody could know that ShinRa’s greatest weapon had such a huge weak point. As soon as he had presented his dynamic in the throes of puberty, his true nature had become the world’s best kept secret.

During the seven days of the full moon, both alphas and omegas chose whether or not to let their nature claim them. It was easy to act as though the pills Sephiroth took suppressed his rut rather than his heat. Even Genesis and Angeal generally assumed that he never skipped a single suppressant because his rut days must spell absolute savagery. And they just left it at that.

Genesis was one of those alphas who decided to take full-moon vacations and skip his suppressants voluntarily just for the joy of sinking into his primal nature with trusted partners. When they were younger, he’d invite Sephiroth to join in. Naturally Sephiroth refused all invitations, whether they were from Genesis or others. His friends would tease him about his dogged refusal to partake in what was generally viewed as a celebration of virility on the alphas’ part. Aeris found it ridiculous, how male alphas judged one another according to how they handled their rut days, and how abstinence could harm one’s reputation and make a male alpha appear “unmanly”. But Sephiroth’s own abstinence only fuelled people’s rampant curiosity. Rumours circulated about how ruthless Sephiroth must be in bed. He just bore it with as much dignity as he could. There was nothing else to be done about it. 

No one had ever seen what the moon did to him once it swelled to fullness and found him undiminished by chemicals. In the end, they simply assumed the worst and respected his decision to never stray even once from his strict regime. 

Aeris had glimpsed it once. 

Back in the labs, it became a habit for her to cross paths with Sephiroth. First it was fleetingly, in the corridors, both of them chasing the other with their eyes, wondering at seeing another kid in that sordid place. Then they’d talk together in the recovery rooms after tests, or wander in the greenhouse during their leisure periods. She remembered once, how Sephiroth had been late to their weekly greenhouse meet-up. How harassed and shaky he’d been when he finally arrived. His scent had overwhelmed her senses. Initially she’d thought perhaps one of the exotic flowers had opened up and exuded some rare substance. She’d been too young back then to truly understand what the scent meant, nor how her body reacted to it. He’d clearly come with something vital to tell her, but he couldn’t get any words out. Finally, after some struggling, he’d curtly informed her that she wouldn’t be seeing him for a week or so. And left her without looking back. 

Once her own dynamic bloomed, it was easy to come to conclusions about that meeting. Thinking back on it now, she wonders whether he’d broken his own strict schedule in order to come to her that day. She was pretty sure she wasn’t meant to see him in that state. Hojo wouldn’t have been that sloppy. 

They never talked about it. She waited a long time for Sephiroth to mention it, but he never did. She didn’t want to make him uncomfortable by asking pointed questions, so she left it alone, and decided instead to watch over him. She’d make sure the secret was well kept. 

He never seemed to suspect that she knew. Their friendship endured, developing into the fierce closeness that appears between children who grow up together in abnormal circumstances. Once they came of age, they were given state-of-the-art Upperworld living arrangements that all wards of ShinRa were allowed. Together they soared through the ranks of Soldier, as they’d been primed to do. 

Whilst the war raged on, they became close friends with two strong Banoran alphas, Genesis and Angeal, and then one Gongagan with a brilliant smile named Zack. And they toppled into their first true experience of what it was to belong to a pack. In the hesitant peacetime that followed, they all settled into their respectful roles as guardians of ShinRa’s Mako empire.

All the while, doggedly, Aeris kept the secret.

*

Sephiroth never, ever made mistakes. 

Until he did. 

He lived in the same building as Aeris and the other firsts, a luxurious apartment complex with rooftop gardens and bursting green balconies. That day, she’d checked her moon calendar and as always thought of him, that childhood friend of hers who never strayed from his rigid self-discipline. 

The rhythm of the city slowed during those seven days between the full moon and the first quarter, when the heat of the omegas and the rut of the alphas rose to the surface. As a rule, the Midgarian population was not expected to be productive in those days - many companies were structured to compensate for the absence of their alpha and omega employees by shifting their workload to the betas, who enjoyed the bonus pay raise. Some companies encouraged their alphas and omegas to stay on their pills, but such practices were generally frowned upon. If alphas and omegas stayed on, it should be out of their own volition rather than because of any company pressure. Still, it was Midgar. Company practices ranged from lax to borderline illegal all over the city. 

ShinRa’s Soldier division had enough alphas in their employ that they carefully organised the seven-day fluctuation in available personnel. Over the years, they had become accustomed to Sephiroth’s constant availability, as well as Angeal’s. Genesis generally allowed himself more liberties. And Aeris… well, Aeris had her moments, too. As long as they let Lazard know ahead of time whether they’d be taking days off, he usually wasn’t too strict with them. 

Aeris had decided to take her full-moon vacation this cycle. She didn’t even have her sights on any particular omega she wanted to enjoy the week with. She just wanted a break. Perhaps she’d follow Genesis to one of his parties if she really got desperate. But in the meantime… sometimes she just yearned for her body to return to its natural state. Months spent smelling of nothing but leather and soap made her feel strange and aseptic. She had enough apparel in her own flat to satisfy herself - she just wanted to let the hormones rise and fill her body with that tingling sensation of high-definition, and all the natural scents of sweat and arousal that the suppressants locked away. 

She was walking across her balcony, enjoying the sunset while she did her evening check on her plants when her doorbell rang. She scampered over to check who it was on the intercom feed. 

Sephiroth.

She frowned. He was meant to be soloing a mission in Junon this week. Lazard would throw a fit if he knew he’d shuffled up his responsibilities and dumped them on some poor Second without warning. 

And, he never called on her when she took her full-moon week.

She pressed the intercom button. “Hey. You all right?” 

“Aeris. I don’t mean to bother you,” he said. His voice was pressed with strange urgency. “I was careless. I think someone switched up my pills to sabotage my mission. I just took one from a new batch, but it’s going to take a while to go into effect.”

She tried to take in the scope of what he was saying. He’d been in Junon without suppressants on the first day of his heat. As soon as he realised it he must’ve tried to disentangle himself from his duties as fast as possible so no one would detect it. 

She knew how quickly the heat could take over an omega on the first day. If he was coming to her now… he must’ve tried to lock himself away in his apartment, only to realise how terrible it was to be in the full throes of heat without an alpha to satiate him. 

She felt her body flush at the implications. Her pulse throbbed between her legs as she stood by her intercom feed, looking at Sephiroth’s dark figure, how strangely limp he seemed compared to usual. He was leaning against the wall, checking over his shoulder every few seconds.

After a while he stared into the camera, the contact strikingly intimate though she knew he couldn’t see her.

“You know, don’t you?” he muttered. “You’ve known since the labs.”

She bit her lip. 

So he did suspect after all. That she’d found out. That she’d been diligently keeping his secret all these years.

“Let me in. You’re the only one I can trust with this.”

“Sephiroth,” she said quietly. “I’m off my own suppressants.”

There was a pause. 

Then he said, “I know.”

Again she was taken aback by how much he was saying with this short, curt exchange. 

He was trusting her. 

He had come to her door during the first day of his heat. 

This was only going to go in one direction and he had fully accepted it. 

She opened the door. 

The full glory of his scent washed over her. She had to brace herself against the door as it enveloped her, pulling at all her instincts, making her own feral excitement rise to unprecedented levels. Blood rushed to her clit as she scented him. Her nails dug into the wood of her front door, a sigh escaping her as she tried to bear the intoxicating cloud of his arousal.

He came in. He was dressed in casual attire, surely having chucked some clothes on after failing to satisfy himself and deciding to come and see her. Jeans, a half-open black shirt. She met his glowing green eyes, took in how heavy-lidded they were, how dilated his pupils had become. His messy silver ponytail hung down one shoulder, like he’d hastily scraped his hair out of the way to take care of his urges.

She could smell how worked up he was. Sweat clung to his clothes. The way he lowered his chin and held her gaze with both reluctance and crushing hunger told her all she needed to know about his intentions. 

She controlled herself long enough to shut and lock the door. When she turned around, he’d wandered over to the open-plan kitchen, leaning heavily on the counter with both hands.

“You were like this in Junon?” Aeris managed through the haze. 

“I felt it start this morning,” he said. “I got back to Midgar before it became too noticeable. I don’t know how strong it was before I locked myself in.” He glanced over to her. “Is it that strong?”

 _Only because you made it worse_ , she wanted to say. But she didn’t want to make him uncomfortable.

“I’m sure you’ll be fine,” she said. “The streets are gorged with scents right now. If anything leaks out in the news, it’ll only be dismissed as rumour.” 

The press had already tried to start rumours about Aeris being an omega, as so many men loved to imagine Soldier First Class Aeris Gainsborough overcome with lust and begging for it. Sephiroth knew this - she’d rant about it to him, and he would commiserate, though never to an extent that might betray his own nature.

They both knew Aeris did not beg for anyone. 

Her feet led her across the hardwood floor to where Sephiroth was leaning. He had his back to her.

She wondered at the effort it took to keep her hands to herself as she observed the broad expanse of his back under that shirt, the belt that hugged his hips, the dark tight-fitting jeans. The way it outlined the perfect domes of his ass, the firm curves of his thighs and calves.

“Promise me you won’t tell anyone,” he said. 

He sounded so much like the boy from the labs, then. She reached for him, placed both hands on his back. He tensed at the touch, and his scent took on musky notes of vanilla, making her close her eyes and bask in his presence. 

“I promise,” she whispered.

He turned around to face her. Tentatively she stepped up to him, hooked her fingers into his belt loops and held herself there, staring at his already swollen and bitten lips. 

It was so strange to see his pupils dilated to hell like that. He stared hungrily at her, his breaths coming shallow. She took in the elegant lines of his face, the sharp cheekbones, the long straight nose, that strong jaw. 

She’d always found him achingly beautiful. But only like one might find a painting or a carved marble statue beautiful. She’d gotten so used to their unselfconscious friendship that she never thought she might ever have this privilege. 

“You don’t mind if I touch you?” she murmured. 

Sephiroth offered her a faint smile. 

“I think I might go insane if you don’t.”

She reached for his face. Even just the anticipation of her touch made his breath hitch in his throat. When she cupped his jaw, he closed his eyes and frowned, letting out a soft little sound of relief. 

Gaia, he was so responsive to her. Heart banging, she stood on her tiptoes and leaned in. 

His arms came around her as they stood on the precipice together. Then he pulled her in, and she kissed him, her lips moulding over his. 

She’d never been with someone as tall and huge as him. His arms wound around her shoulders, her whole body arched up against his as she kissed him greedily, tasting him for the first time. He held onto her as though to dear life as she filled his mouth with her tongue, making him moan with sheer satisfaction.

He was ragingly hard under his jeans. She could feel him against her own flimsy dress, fitting snugly against her pubis. The hot wet contact of his tongue against hers made her giddy with the need to claim more of him. Her hand ventured down, closed over the bulge of his erection, and he moaned again, louder this time. Beneath his bulge, the denim was growing damp and warm with his slick.

He was panting. He needed to be mated so badly. 

Aeris felt herself flush in response to his blatant arousal. She broke off the kiss, leaned her forehead against his. He breathed hotly against her mouth, fingers digging into her shoulders, clearly frustrated that she’d stopped.

“Go to the bed,” she murmured. “Take your clothes off. Give me time to prepare.” 

“How much time?” 

She smiled at his impatience. “Not long.”

With superhuman effort, she managed to detach herself from him. He pushed himself away from the counter and managed to stride over to her bedroom without much grace. 

She breathed in and out slowly. Gathered herself. 

This was the first time he was ever allowing an alpha to claim him. She shouldn’t be as rough with him as her instincts told her to be.

She needed to have patience. 

But Gaia, just the idea of him stripping down in her own bedroom and lying flushed and aroused in her own sheets… she bit her lip, fingers curling into fists. 

She needed to calm down. This was Sephiroth. Her oldest, dearest friend. She would take her time and be as gentle as he deserved. 

She went to her walk-in closet, sorted through her apparel. With ritual slowness she slid off her underwear and pulled the leather straps of her harness over her hips, cinching the thin belts as tight as they’d go. Her toys were displayed in a tinted glass case. She opened the doors, trying to decide on which one to use. 

As always her gaze went to the big pink phallus that lay across the top shelf, its impressive length and girth taking up the whole space. At its base was a compartment that would swell to form a knot at the behest of the user. A collar came with it with buttons on it, initiating vibration, knotting, and ejaculation. 

And the best part was that it was built to connect to her own nervous system. Once she fitted it into her harness and let the base mould her vulva, it became an extension of her body. It connected to the nerve-endings in her clit so that she felt as though she were filling up her partner to the fullest extent.

Chances were, Sephiroth had never let anyone else penetrate him. She’d have to prepare him properly if she wanted to use _that_. 

She grinned nervously as she let her fingers play over it. Gaia, she wanted to strap it on right away. But she should start small. She gathered up some bracers and plugs, then slipped on the collar and took the pink monster just in case. 

When she came into her bedroom, she was _not_ ready for the sight that greeted her.

Sephiroth was stretched out on the mattress, his hair a long silver curl around his head. His knees were up, drawing the sheets up with them to give him some privacy and also ample room to apply stress relief beneath. One arm pulled the clutter of her pillows closer around his head, the other was thrown down the taut length of his naked abdomen, hand disappearing beneath the covers and presumably grasping his cock. 

When he heard her come in he looked over at her, eyes dark with lust. If he was embarrassed at her discovering him like this, it didn’t stop him chasing his release. He only frowned deeper, turned his face into the cushions with a sigh, and slowed down a little for her sake. 

Aeris couldn’t contain her smile as she wandered around the side of the bed. She sat down, gorging herself on both the sight of his utter abandon and the spike of his scent all around them. Carefully she placed her paraphernalia on the bedside table, and arranged the skirt of her short dress so it concealed her empty harness.

“Starting without me?” she said.

“I’m sorry.”

Aeris leaned over him, her braid sliding over his bared pecs. 

“What are you apologising for?” she murmured, gazing down at his face. “I invited you in here.”

He let out another sigh. “I’ve just never… it’s so _strong_.”

“You aren’t used to it. This is the first heat you’ve had in a long time, isn’t it?”

She placed a kiss on the bunched lines of Sephiroth’s frown. He gazed up at her, eyes foggy with desire. When she kissed his mouth, he let out that moan again, the sound reverberating right through her core. Without any underwear on, she could feel her own wetness smudging over her inner thighs. 

Gaia, she wanted him. It was still difficult to comprehend that he was actually here, giving himself up to her, asking her to mate him. 

“It was in the labs,” he admitted. “There was no release.” 

Fierce protectiveness surged through her. As always at the mere mention of the labs, she wanted to tear apart those men and women who had held them for so long under strict observation. She kissed him again and murmured, “This time it’ll be good.” 

Her fingers played down the taut line of his arm, following it down beneath the covers, between his thighs. She held his gaze as her fingertips brushed over the leaking head of his cock, the ridges of his fingers as he pumped himself slowly. She ghosted her way down to the base, and lower still, until she found his slick hole. 

He was so wet. Her fingertips slid over the natural lubrication as she pressed and circled around his entrance. He dug his head back against the pillows, eyes closed, mouth parted. 

“You’re so soaked already,” Aeris murmured in awe. 

She went on circling until he frowned and whispered, “ _Please_.” It was so quiet, and yet such a naked admittance of his hunger that her senses came alight. She wanted nothing more than to sink into him with the full girth of her strap - but, first things first. Staring at his deliciously vulnerable expression, Aeris buried a finger inside him. 

It slid inside him so easily. Sephiroth’s whole body arched.

“ _Uugn,”_ he moaned. His hand picked up speed again as he went on pulling at his cock. “ _Yess.”_

She gave him another finger, curling up against his prostate until he was writhing, his huge body stretching beneath her. Three fingers and the sound that left his lips was almost a whimper. To think that this was _Sephiroth_ , lying in her bed, opening his thighs for her and sounding like _that_. 

She couldn’t resist him. 

In a swift movement she pulled the covers from his legs and crawled between his thighs, never removing her fingers from within him. He watched her as she settled there, and pressed a kiss onto the throbbing base of his cock. Keeping her eyes glued to his, she dragged her tongue up over his fingers and then caught the head of his cock in her mouth, spreading her saliva over him, scent-marking every bit of him as her own. Then she went lower, licked at the rim that stretched around her fingers. 

“Aeris,” he gasped. It was all the encouragement she needed. She removed her fingers and kissed his entrance, running her tongue over it until he was sighing and making those sweet sounds again. When she pushed the tip of her tongue into him, he lifted his hips to meet her.

He was so primed and ready. She wondered if she even needed to prepare him when his whole body was already aching for it. 

She rose from between his thighs, wiping at her face with the back of her hand. He panted and went on masturbating with feverish purpose. Seeing that, she pushed her fingers back inside him, slamming against his prostate. It bulged against her fingertips, and he arched in ecstasy as the orgasm tore through him. 

She could feel his pulse pounding against her fingertips. Come spattered over his belly as he shot thick white globs over himself. His hand ceased its frenetic pumping. But after she removed her fingers from within him, he dug his head into the pillows and gave an animalistic growl. 

It wasn’t enough. This didn’t even come close to satisfying an omega’s heat. She knew as much. Clearly he could still feel it writhing through his body even after the shimmer of orgasm died down.

She took his wrists and pinned them over his head against the bedframe. He watched her in surprise as she pulled the bow from her hair and tied his wrists with it.

“Don’t worry,” she told him. “We’re only just getting started.” 

His breaths were coming in ragged as she coaxed him into this submissive position. He thrust his chin up, stealing a kiss from her. When she kissed him back he groaned again with pure need. 

“When does it stop,” he sighed. “I need it to stop.” 

“Once I’ve made you come a few more times,” she whispered, “and once I’ve filled you with my knot… it’ll stop.”

His eyes were dark with lust when he next looked at her. He tried to free himself with one hard yank, the bedframe clattering.

The silk ribbon held. 

Aeris grinned down at him. “Going somewhere?” 

He stared at her with such naked hunger that it sent shivers down her spine. 

She leaned her forehead against his and whispered, “Trust me. I’ll take good care of you.” 

It took some effort to work the first plug inside him. Even this relatively small one was sizeable for someone who’d never done this before. The base fit snugly against his drenched rim. Aeris sat between his thighs, observing her handiwork as he lay there before her, arms over his head, face flushed as the plug stretched him uncomfortably. She needed to make him relax around it.

She climbed over him, straddling his hips. Her slick pussy slid over the hard ridge of his cock, making his breath hitch. Their eyes met again as she lifted his cock, lining it up to her entrance. She held his gaze as she slowly lowered herself onto his erection, swallowing the blunt head first, and then the full length of it, inch by inch.

He threw back his head, throat straining, mouth open soundlessly as she took him entirely. He was so satisfyingly thick inside her. Once he was buried to the hilt, she sat for a moment, relishing the shape of him inside her.

She laid her hands on his chest, watching him pant and enjoy the sensations, her chest swelling with primal delight. There was something else than that old familiar affection for him, now. A deep-seated instinct overcame her as she leaned over him, slicked wayward strands of hair from his sweaty face

_My mate._

_Mine._

He smelled so nice. Sweat and slick and precum. And vanilla. She breathed in his scent in the crook of his neck, losing herself in its delicious notes.

“Does it feel good?” she whispered.

“ _Yes_ ,” he groaned.

“Mmm.” She lifted her face so she could nudge his nose with hers. “Remind me why haven’t we done this before?”

He had enough presence of mind to grin. “My own self-preservation instincts, probably.”

She laughed. Moments later, she’d reached for the plug’s remote control. When he saw it, he gave her a pointedly deadpan look.

“May I?” she asked sweetly.

“You know you don’t need to ask.”

She flicked the on switch. The plug came to life inside him, buzzing against his prostate.

The strangled cry that left his mouth told her she had chosen her toy well. She felt his cock throb within her as the plug vibrated against that sensitive spot.

She started moving her hips, massaging his cock from the base to the tip. He came undone, eyes squeezed shut as he let her ride him while the plug filled him with tantalizing vibrations.

“Faster,” he whispered. “Aeris – please _\- faster._ ”

She smiled and kept going at the same torturous pace. Then she couldn’t resist leaning over him so she could run the tight rim of her entrance over the crown of his cock, again and again. 

He sucked in a breath as he bore it. Then he hissed, “Are you really teasing me right now?”

“You make it very hard not to.”

He snarled at her and snapped wolf-like at her lower lip. She let him catch her, revelling in the sharpness of his teeth, and his neediness as he sucked her lip into his mouth.

“You know I could rip this ribbon right off the frame,” he growled.

“You wouldn’t. You know it has sentimental value for me.”

He’d gifted it to her on their first night of freedom, after they’d both moved into their new flats. The memory softened his expression for a moment. He kissed her again, more tenderly this time, drawing a soft whine from her.

“I could always give you another,” he offered.

She smirked. “Behave. Or I won’t take it easy on you.”

He held her gaze stubbornly. Like he was taking it as a challenge.

In the next moment he’d yanked again at the bedframe, more decisively this time.

The ribbon tore into tatters.

His arms came around her, holding her tight to his sculpted chest. She tried to fight him, but he thrust his hips up hard, his cock hitting deep within her, and she gave up her pretence of resistance with a cry of delight.

He fucked her as rough as he wanted to, sinking his teeth into her neck as he held her in a vice grip. Aeris’ mind was swimming. She’d never been with an omega who talked back and _demanded_ things of her like this.

It was intoxicating.

Her primal instincts surged, filling her limbs with the desire to kick and buck against him, reclaim dominance. Her body felt light with the adrenaline, readying to fight back just as keenly as it would in a spar.

 _After this,_ she told herself. _After this, he’s absolutely getting it._

But for the moment… Gaia, it was so _good_. How his thick cock filled her to burst. How strong his arms felt around her. And his voice… so choked and desperate as he groaned her name against her neck.

He came inside her with a full-body shudder, his arms clamping around her even tighter. His hips slammed against her, cock spurting thick streams of come in her waiting depths. She took it, purring against him, a stupid satisfied grin on her face as they both held each other tight. The plug went on buzzing inside him, drawing out his orgasm until he was gasping helplessly. She gorged herself on the sound of him losing all control, clenching around him in response.

They stayed cocooned together for a moment, minds blank as they savoured one another’s closeness. Then Aeris’ alpha instincts finally took over.

This was grave misbehaviour.

It would not go unpunished.

She pushed herself up, towering over him, her braid all mussed up as it slanted down her front. Sephiroth was barely conscious enough to respond – his arms fell away from her like leaves, landing in the pillows at either side of his head.

“You know, I really liked that ribbon,” Aeris said. Casually she wrapped her hands around his wrists, then slowly pitted her weight there, gripping harder and hard, until surely she’d leave bruises. He only hummed appreciatively as she reminded him of her raw strength. She tried not to let him see how pleased she was by the glowing post-orgasm face he was wearing. “Soldier First Class Sephiroth. You think you can just do what you want and disrespect me like that?”

Sephiroth’s mouth inched closer to a grin.

“It wasn’t my intention,” he rumbled.

“Regardless. I think you’re going to have to make it up to me.”

His grin widened. “It’d be my pleasure.”

“Mmm. We’ll see.”

She switched off the plug, and Sephiroth twitched as the vibration abruptly cut off. Aeris got off him with some reluctance, biting her lip as she let the length of his cock slide slowly out of her. Once it had plopped on his stomach again, she clenched her own muscles to keep as much of his seed inside her as she could, and got up off the bed.

He was satisfied enough to stay there and enjoy the afterglow while she readied him for what was coming.

She slid leather cuffs around his wrists, with metal clips to secure him to the bed frame. He let her attach him again, smiling insolently up at her when she tested the strength of the metal links.

She inched down between his thighs again. Gently she took out the plug, enjoying how he shivered as she eased it from his hole. She went to the bedside table, took a much larger one, and then endeavoured to replace the first.

When he felt it enter him, he gasped in surprise. He was slick enough for it to glide in smoothly, stretching him further than the previous plug or her own fingers had managed. Once it was seated firmly inside, Sephiroth twitched his hips, clearly trying to accommodate it.

“I’m oversensitive,” he complained. “Can’t you give me five minutes?”

“I would have. If you’d behaved.”

He smirked up at the ceiling. “This is your retribution, then?” 

“Not yet. This is just the first step.”

She climbed up his body, straddling his chest. He stared up at her, still somewhat zoned out from his earth-shattering orgasm.

“Open your mouth,” she commanded.

He did as he was told.

She shuffled up so that she was poised over his face, and carefully lowered herself onto his mouth. He gave a first tentative lick, his long textured tongue parting her slick, engorged lips. She grasped the bedframe and sank onto his mouth, closing her eyes as he lapped at her dripping folds.

When his tongue slid inside her, he groaned, surely tasting his own juices that he’d packed within her. She unclenched so that his semen trickled onto his waiting tongue. His groans vibrated deliciously against her as he accepted it, swallowing eagerly. Her knuckles were growing white on the bedframe as she rode his face, rubbing herself against that amazingly dexterous tongue, shivering each time he caught her hardened nub and sucked on it.

Gaia, he was too good at this for someone who barely ever indulged his desires. He was sloppy yet eager to please, and that was precisely how she liked it. Each time he made her moan, he would continue with whatever had won him that reaction, and she’d be reduced to a gasping, shivering mess.

He was bringing her close to the brink in minutes. Both of them held onto the iron bars of the bedframe as she rode him harder, keeping a precise angle as she panted and stiffened up and _concentrated_. 

“Keep going,” she murmured, her whole body growing hot as he sucked irresistibly at her clit. Just a little more – just a little – _Gaia –_ she was so close.

Then he did something, changed the angle, lifted his chin, and she came so hard that she screamed. She rode it out carelessly, surely placing too much weight on his jaw, but he took it without a single protest.

By the time she was ready to get up and let him breathe, he’d grown rock hard again. She knelt beside him, raking her eyes over his body as she caught her own breath. He was arched, his cock standing proud and rigid against his belly. He turned his face to gaze tenderly at her, his mouth slightly swollen and shining with their combined juices. 

He smelled of her now. There was a quiet, primal triumph in that.

His own scent was golden and heavy on the air. He was more than ready for a third round.

Trembling, she took a blindfold from the bedside table and tied it around his eyes. Then she clicked on the plug’s remote control so that it began buzzing inside him. Like before his whole body tensed to feel it vibrate against his oversensitive prostate, his buckled bracers clanging against the bedframe.

He turned his face towards her. “Come back here,” he commanded, lifting his hips as an invitation.

Her hand travelled tenderly over his hair, then clenched into a fist, bunching the silver lengths at the base of his scalp. His head fell back. She held him there in that submissive pose, his throat bared to her, his body arched and exposed beneath her. Her blood sang with triumph as he held himself still for her, his deep nature taking over.

He was ShinRa’s General – they were all under him, herself included. But here, without the veneer of social status, without their professional titles – the great Sephiroth was an omega, and it was in his nature to submit to a worthy alpha.

And that alpha was her.

She leaned close enough to hover over his face. “You don’t get to give orders now,” she told him. His breath came short as she claimed authority over him. Adrenaline pulsed within her as they both fell naturally into their respective dynamics. “It’s about time you learned your place.”

She let go of him and got up off the bed.

He lay there in a daze, the blindfold covering his face, enduring the plug’s insistent vibration. His thighs rubbed together as he tried to bear it. For the first few moments, he took it silently, trying his best not to let her see how desperate he was to be satisfied.

She took the opportunity to strap her fat pink phallus onto her harness. First she fit the base snugly against her pussy, letting the suction pad envelop her contours and connect her to it. Then she slid the metal ring around it, and buckled it into the harness. The pink monstrosity extended from her like an abnormally large cock, hanging in a heavy diagonal.

Sephiroth’s defenses were beginning to crumble as she stayed out of his reach. He was panting, his chest heaving as he endured the shudders of pleasure that ran through him. Sweat beaded on his skin, heightening the scent of his heat until Aeris thought she’d go mad with it herself.

She stood over the bed and stared down at the spectacle he was making of himself. Such a needy omega. In normal circumstances she would never have allowed herself to think of her old friend in such terms – but her instincts were fast taking over, and the sight of his bared belly, his shaking thighs, the utter vulnerability of his pose… it was such a vast flattery, coming from him, that he would submit so completely to her.

“Aeris,” he gasped. “Please.”

She touched her strap, biting her lip as the contact of her own hand reverberated through her clit, igniting her core. She couldn’t wait to sink into that tight, throbbing hole of his, and feel him closing around her.

“Are you going to behave if I release your wrists?”

For a moment he said nothing, still holding onto his pride. The plug went on vibrating noisily inside him. She cranked up the vibration, and his arms twitched, metal links clanging against the bedframe.

“Well?” she insisted.

He breathed sharply through his nose. 

“I will do as you ask,” he promised.

She turned off the plug, and he groaned with the relief of it. She sat down on the edge of the bed, gazed down at his blindfolded face as he caught his breath. Tenderly she stroked his cheek and trailed her thumb along his lower lip. Then she leaned over him, nudged her nose against his, basking in the scent-mark she’d placed on his mouth. 

“Sephiroth,” she whispered, making a claim of his name. “If you’re ready… will you present yourself for me?” 

He breathed for a moment in the stillness as her implications hung heavy in the air.

Then, wordlessly, he nodded.

She unclasped his wrists, then stood to give him room. He got up on all fours, his ponytail sweeping over his shoulder to curl on the bed below him. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of him.

Ninety kilos of sheer muscle and sinew, strengthened by Mako and years of relentless training. He knelt there in all his glory, head bowed, corded muscles straining under his smooth pale skin as he held his weight up on both arms.

He almost took up the whole bed, he was such a large and imposing man.

And he was giving himself to her. Presenting himself as an omega should.

Back arched, thighs spread.

Waiting.

She wandered behind him. Considered the magnificent sight before her. His back was dipped, though not quite far enough to betray the sheer strength of his heat.

She knelt up on the bed, shuffled between his feet. The base of the plug still stoppered his ass. She slid one hand down the curve of his back, and with the other, slowly pulled out the plug. His spine dipped lower as it slid out. She heard him bite back a groan as its absence left him achingly empty. 

His scent was overwhelming now in this position of utter capitulation. Slick dripped down his inner thighs as he waited obediently for her to make the next move. When Aeris pressed her fingertips at his gushing entrance, he only shuddered and held himself there, back muscles shifting as he braced against her touch.

“You’re so ready for me,” Aeris purred. “Your whole body’s craving to be mated.”

Sephiroth dropped his head, making a noise that was half indignation, half acquiescence.

She slid three fingers inside as easily as anything. His inner walls clenched greedily around her fingers.

“I envy you,” Aeris said. “It must be so freeing. To give yourself up like this completely.”

She pressed within him, making him moan again.

“To have no other thought than to please your alpha,” she went on. “You want to please me, don’t you, Sephiroth?”

Her fingers rubbed leisurely at his prostate as she spoke, sending tremors down his thighs as he held himself still for her.

“Yes,” he hissed. “I do.”

Her instincts sparked to hear his choked voice. She lifted the pink cock, shivered as the motion pulled at her nerves. Eyes fixed on his beautifully offered ass, she touched the head of her phallus against him, rubbing its length between his ass cheeks so he could feel how big it was. 

“Gaia,” he muttered as he held himself on shaking arms.

“Do you want this inside you?” she teased him, her voice growing thick.

He shook his head as though in disbelief at the size of her strap, or perhaps his own yearn for it. Then he whispered, “ _Yes_.”

“If you want it, then ask for it.”

She went on rubbing against his slippery, slick-covered ass while he held himself there, grappling with pride and dignity and base primal cravings. At one point he lifted his head as though he could glare at her over his shoulder, though he still wore the blindfold.

“Will you stop playing with me and just do it?”

“Ask me properly and I will.”

He sighed, hung his head again. “Please... put it inside me.”

“What was that?”

Irritably, he tried again. “I’m here under you. I’m yours. Use me as you see fit.”

Those words in Sephiroth’s mouth… heat thrummed in her belly to hear him say such lewd things. “Mmm. Not quite there yet.”

He growled and bit out, “Aeris, for Odin’s sake, just _._ Shove that thing inside me and _fuck me._ ”

Satisfied, she lined up the blunt head of the cock with his throbbing hole. She could almost feel how wet he was, the strap’s connection to her own body translating ghostly sensations. Then she pushed the thick bulbous head inside him, watching it sink into him as his slippery hole closed all around it.

Sephiroth’s shoulders bunched as he took it. Aeris marvelled at how his tightness pulled at her senses, her clit pulsing with the phantom pressure closing around it. She ran her hands up and down Sephiroth’s slim waist, letting him accommodate her. Then she gripped his hips and pushed the thick girth of her strap further into him.

It was easier than she’d thought. His body all but sucked her inside with how ready he was. She seated herself to the hilt and he let out a sound that was pure satisfaction.

Once he had grown accustomed to it, she pulled the pink length out again, almost all the way, enjoying how it shone with his slick. She rammed it into him again, harder this time, making his head snap up.

“ _Uugn,”_ he groaned. “Aeris – that is – ”

“Good?” she supplemented.

“You can’t. You can’t do that.”

She grinned. “You want me to stop?”

She did it again, harder still, drawing a deliciously lewd groan from him. Clearly he did not want her to stop. She gripped his hips tighter and fucked the strap into him, totally focussed on how his body responded to her. His spine dipped lower still as he backed up against her to meet her thrusts. She caressed the deep arch in a proprietary gesture.

“Good boy.” 

His head snapped to the side. “Don’t you dare start with that,” he rasped.

From the way he’d clenched around her cock, she could tell he liked the praise.

Each time she pressed the strap into him, she felt both his tightness and the pressure against her clit. Each thrust sent bolts of pleasure through her. Her nails bit into his hips as she panted and endured it.

Soldier training had given her abs of steel, and she could usually go on pounding her chosen partner for hours before coming. But not now. Not when she was drawing out the strap almost all the way and slamming it into him again, because that’s clearly what he loved most – and not when this was _Sephiroth_. The simple idea that she was fucking this man and drawing those animalistic moans from him put her libido on overdrive, drawing her climax ever nearer.

His scent drifted around them, glittering with the promise of release, and the excitement of their mating. All of his body was growing hot as she pounded into him. After a while he collapsed onto his elbows, and she drove into his ass until she’d flattened him onto the mattress completely, his hands gripping at her pillows, ass lifted to meet her thrusts.

She loomed over him, raking her nails down his back, feral delight sparking at the sight of the claw-marks she was leaving on his body. She leaned over to kiss the marks, tasting salt on his skin.

 _Mine,_ said the long red lines _. My omega._

This position pressed the base of her strap even closer around her clit. She ground against his ass, slowing down, seeing stars as her climax approached.

“Sephiroth… I’m close,” she panted.

He reached behind him, his hand landing clumsily on her thigh. “Wait… I want to see you.”

She smiled, then withdrew from him inch by inch. His whole body was taut as a bow string until the strap was out, and then he practically collapsed, groaning with the absence of it. Groggily she pulled at his great body until she’d flipped him onto his back. She positioned herself between his thighs, holding their heavy weight around her waist and relishing how their warmth closed around her.

Then she reached for his blindfold and pulled it off.

Sephiroth blinked up at her. His eyes were puffy and barely even open in his fucked-out state.

She leaned over him so she could give him a sloppy, sex-drunk kiss. He reciprocated in kind, cupping her face, taking the opportunity to calm down and breathe against her.

With one hand, she ventured down his body so she could line up her strap again. She encountered his cock, achingly hard and leaking all over his stomach. She purposefully ghosted over him, making his erection twitch up as though seeking contact.

Staring down into Sephiroth’s gorgeous Mako-green eyes, she angled her strap and sank into him a second time. His eyes fluttered shut as he took it.

“Look at you,” she murmured. “You love it, don’t you? How much it stretches you.”

All he could manage was a strangled groan. She buried her cock to the hilt and held it there.

“Taking it without a word,” she praised. “Such a good boy.”

He let his head fall back into the pillows. This time he didn’t pretend to protest her praise.

She closed her hand around his erection, sliding up and down the sticky shaft as a reward.

“I’m proud of you,” she whispered. “You’ve done so well. Giving yourself to me like this. I know it isn’t easy.”

“Aeris,” he gasped. It must’ve been torture for him - the monstrous girth of her strap held still within him, and her hand pumping his cock.

“Shall I push my knot inside you?” 

Without lifting his head, he managed a weak nod _._

“You sure you can take it?”

This time he did lift his head, taking hers between his hands again so he could lean their foreheads together.

“Stop talking,” he breathed. “I need it, _now_.”

The words made her alpha instincts surge irresistibly. She needed to claim him. Mate him. There was no going back now. He was _hers_.

She clicked the button on her collar and felt the knot swell at the base of her strap. She held it outside of him just for the pleasure of watching it sink into him. He cried out as it stretched his abused hole, the veiny mass of the knot disappearing inside him.

Once it was firmly seated within, she hit the button again, and it swelled larger still.

It was inflating against his prostate, filling him more than any reasonable alpha dick would. His thighs closed around her, his body stretching beneath her as he rasped in air. He was perilously close – that much was obvious.

“Wait for me,” she commanded, and then ground into him at just the right angle.

Orgasm was no less than an explosion. She thrust against him and gave herself to pure sensation. The feel of his thighs around her waist. The knot seated so snugly inside him. The way he seemed to clench all around her as he watched her come. Her climax triggered the mechanism within her strap, and the monstrous cock spurted thick creamy gel into Sephiroth’s belly.

The pink phallus emptied its generous quantities of gel within him in spaced-out pulses. She accompanied each pulse with a thrust. Being filled both by the knot and the ridiculous quantities of hot gel pulled Sephiroth over the edge. He all but howled his pleasure as he came at last.

Aeris hoped to Gaia that his flat was as soundproof as hers. The sounds they were making… nobody needed to hear that on a quiet Thursday evening.

Even after Sephiroth’s voice had worn down to ragged breaths, there was still gel pulsing within him. He’d twitch every time it pulsed again. Together they toppled onto their sides, and she cradled him tenderly against her bosom as he remained knotted to her. He burrowed against her, holding her close, and breathed through the last glimmers of orgasm. 

They took a moment to come down from the climax. She stroked his tangled silver hair, distantly wondering at the possessive grip she had of him, how she relished the way he was covered in her own scent and claw marks. Now the sweet apple perfume of her choice of gel joined the rest, marking him as hers from the inside out.

Her alpha instincts had no consideration of pragmatics, or real-life consequences. Her mind told her this was a one-off thing, that Sephiroth would probably thank her and leave once they came down. But her instincts demanded that she take him as her mate and protect him for the rest of her life. It was those instincts that made her cradle him tighter, frowning as she relished this primal closeness just a little longer.

Once they’d recovered enough to breathe normally, Aeris asked him, “You all right? I wasn’t too rough?”

“No,” he said, voice muffled by her breasts. “You were perfect.”

She smiled. Now that the mental trip of their respective dynamics was waning, she was beginning to feel slightly amazed by what had just happened. She’d pinned her own General to the bed and fucked him until he screamed.

Sephiroth moved against her and winced.

“It doesn’t go down by itself, does it?” he murmured, and she blinked to awareness.

“Oh! You’re right, sorry. Let me take care of that.” She slapped her collar quickly to deflate the knot. As it retracted into the shaft of the strap, Sephiroth visibly relaxed against her.

He was still impaled on the strap. He didn’t seem to want to go anywhere.

She smiled and went on stroking his hair, closing her eyes to enjoy the sticky-sweet moment some more.

After a while their bodies cooled, and the substances were all beginning to dry – come, slick, apple gel. It was going to be a nuisance if they didn’t get up now. Aeris reached down and carefully pulled the length of the strap from within Sephiroth.

He tensed as she eased it out inch by inch. Then at last the head popped out, making him twitch and groan. Aeris couldn’t resist bringing her hand down to feel his distended hole, her fingers quickly getting coated in thick translucent gel.

“We should get you cleaned up,” Aeris said. “Can you walk?”

He had the energy to scoff. “I think it would take more than that to incapacitate me.” 

“Don’t start giving me ideas,” she said, smirking. “I can keep going as long as I like. You, on the other hand… you look like you might need a break.”

“Mmm.” He shivered as she rubbed tenderly at his entrance. He was still curled into her, eyes closed as he enjoyed the comfort of her bosom. “The heat does seem to be sated for the time being.”

“Yeah. You needed this,” she murmured. “To be mated by an alpha.”

He mulled over her words for a moment. “It’s common enough knowledge, and yet… I spent the whole day fighting against it.”

“I understand,” Aeris told him. “It’s a trip, giving yourself in to your nature. There are some parts of my own dynamic that I don’t particularly like, myself. But it doesn’t make you any less _you._ That you might need to give in to it from time to time.” 

Sephiroth took a moment to savour her words again. Without the strap inside him, he had the freedom to unhook his legs from her waist and stretch his body against hers more fully. She encouraged him to come against her, and he sighed as they fitted together, legs twined, him resolutely burying his face in her breasts again. She blushed as he nuzzled into the cleavage of her dress.

Eventually he leaned his cheek against her so he could talk more freely. “Some part of me was afraid that… impregnation would be necessary. To vanquish the heat.”

She wondered at how he’d distanced himself from the whole concept of sex for so long that he’d forgotten things like this. Then again, alpha men were so driven by their need to breed their omegas that it _was_ constantly brought to the foreground. Perhaps his fears had muddied what he’d learned when they were younger. “Knotting triggers the egg to be released,” she told him softly. “Once that’s out of the way, the heat goes down. For some omegas, triggering one egg makes the heat go away for that whole cycle. For others it takes a few more than just the one. In any case, the egg doesn’t have to be fertilised for your heat to stop.” She dug her fingers through his soft hair. “If you want to take a full-moon vacation one day, we could find out what your own natural cycle’s like.” 

He paused again before speaking. “I suppose it’s only with practice that one comes to properly know oneself,” he mused at length.

“With practice, huh?” 

She meant it as a joke, but she hadn’t expected how her heart soared at the idea that he might want to continue this. That this might not be just a one-off favour.

“Mmm.” He grinned. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you.”

“Not saying that I _would_ , but… you know I’m here for you if you need more help.”

He raised his head so he could gaze up at her with knowing eyes. “‘Help’,” he deadpanned, and she giggled. 

His hand strayed down the curve of her waist, the fabric of her dress dragging under his fingertips. “Difficult to refuse the offer when we’re here like this,” he murmured. She bit her lip as that hand ventured down to her bare hip. Her dress had ridden up to her waist in this position. He explored the straps of her harness, how they dug into her flesh, sending goosebumps over her skin. Then he lingered along the length of the phallus itself, the contact reverberating through her clit.

“Don’t,” she warned him breathlessly. “If you don’t want to get me riled up again… you shouldn’t do that.”

Obligingly he placed his hand on her hip again, gripping her there, the possessive gesture making her bite her lip.

They stayed in that position a little while longer, relishing the comfortable silence, and this togetherness. If Aeris’s own instincts were so content then she could only imagine how Sephiroth’s must be singing with the same delight. Nothing compared to this feeling of completeness after a mating. 

For just a moment, he was completely hers. And she was completely his. It was blissfully uncomplicated. 

Then he asked her quietly, “You want to go get cleaned up first, or shall I?” 

“Be my guest,” Aeris said. She pushed down the primal outrage that he might clean her scent-marks off of his body. “I think you need it more than I do.”

*

It was past midnight when Aeris padded across her kitchen. She’d detached the pink monster and left it in the bedroom with the rest of the toys. She’d clean them when Sephiroth was done with the bathroom. 

Clicking on the stove’s overhead lights, she poured water in her kettle and set it to boil. Her own feelings and the dregs of her dynamic were dancing giddily in her body. She was used to this - used to matings that lasted a few days and then fizzled out with the waning of the moon. She had never allowed herself a romantic relationship because it was… too complicated. With her Soldier duties, with ShinRa’s eventual Promised Land project looming over her head, and with the mindfuck of her dynamic… she had always told herself that she was better off just playing it casual, like Genesis did. 

But… she had never felt such excitement before at the sheer prospect of taking an omega as her mate. And not just on the full moon. Properly. 

_Permanently._

She realised now that it felt like such a natural progression of their relationship. No one else knew her as well as Sephiroth did. And perhaps… perhaps she’d kept herself from pursuing any type of romance because of how much space he and their pack took up in her life. There was simply no room for other people. 

This, the idea of actually being mated to Sephiroth… Gaia, it felt so _natural_. 

She shook away the thought as she took the cocoa powder from one of the overhead cupboards. She needed to steel herself for his eventual refusal. You didn’t just up and propose to someone you’d only just mated. That’s what youngsters with no experience did in the zest of that first afterglow. 

She knew better than to give in to that.

Trying to push down how her instincts screamed with disappointment, Aeris prepared their two mugs of hot cocoa. She took the kind of meticulous care that alphas learned to take as a method of keeping their urges in check. She grabbed the whipped cream from the fridge, the sprinkles and chocolate chips from the drawer. She squirted a generous amount of whipped cream onto her own mug, then doubled the dose for Sephiroth’s, making it unnecessarily elaborate with added caramel toppings.

When he came out into the kitchen, he was wearing one of her own flowery silk night robes. It was a little short on him, coming mid-thigh, but… it suited him. She grinned as he padded over to her, towel around his shoulders, one hand still patting at his hair. 

A quiet smile stretched his mouth as he saw the two decadent mugs on the kitchen island.

Their diets were still very strict, though they would never be as heavily monitored as back in the labs. Both of them had taken a while to allow themselves small indulgences even after they’d been given their own flats. Gradually, mostly because of Zack’s interference, it had become a game between them to dare one another with forbidden foods. Sugar-heavy things like this were especially banned. 

“That one’s yours?” Sephiroth asked, pointing to the most ridiculously over-charged one.

“Nope. Yours.”

Smirking, Sephiroth dipped his little finger into the caramel-coated whipped cream and sucked it clean. She watched him close his eyes and appreciate the heady zing of sugar. Then he sat on one of the high stools, pulled the mug to him, and went on digging into the whipped cream with his fingers. She knew intimately well that it was less daunting to chip at it a little at a time. A big spoon would’ve made it more of a challenge. But she’d challenged him enough tonight.

“I’m surprised you even have whipped cream in your kitchen,” he said. Then he glanced at her. “Though it’s far from the only surprising thing you’ve been hiding in this flat.”

Aeris grimaced self-consciously as she cupped her hands around her mug . Clearly he’d recovered all of his wits whilst taking that shower. She was vibrating with all the questions and inappropriate propositions she was keeping contained. 

“Never took you for a collector,” he went on casually. “Did you use a fraction of your toys on me, or was that all of them?”

“A fraction,” she admitted. “And you’re full of it. You know I’m a collector.”

His smile widened. He knew about her abysmal addiction to lingerie. Methodically, he went on eating his whipped cream, a little finger-load at a time. “You had that enormous one custom-made, I imagine?”

“A lot of places make them,” she said. “I don’t suppose male alphas know a lot about how we do things. But if you want to partner with omegas, you can’t really do without one.”

Here it was Sephiroth’s turn to lose his countenance at the reminder that she’d buried that huge strap inside him. He tried not to show it, fixing his attention on his mug. 

“And no, before you ask,” Aeris quipped. “I’m not in the habit of doing this. Genesis is the one who throws all his wild parties.”

“Don’t you attend some of them?”

“ _Some_ of them,” she specified. “And I don’t always stick around. The guys get really intense when they’re all together and indulging themselves like that.”

His glowing eyes caught hers. “You don’t like it when it gets intense?”

She blushed. She was losing this battle fast. Leaning her elbows on the table, she grabbed one of the spoons she’d prepared and dug into his whipped cream, carving off a small mountain and shoving it in her mouth. He watched her do it, a small spark of outrage and envy lighting his eyes.

“You can come if you like,” she challenged him. “See for yourself. Genesis is hosting parties every day of the week.”

He raised his eyebrows. “I… don’t know if I’m ready to be in a room with a load of slavering male alphas. And, I’m not sure Lazard would appreciate the surprise. Or the intel leak.”

Aeris grinned. “You’re implying that I’m not a slavering alpha?”

He gazed at her then, tenderness creeping into his face. The small smile he gave her filled her with that inappropriate longing again.

“No,” he said. “You were very considerate. And… very eloquent.”

Her face was burning. She scooped up the rest of his whipped cream and swallowed it down instead of trying to figure out how to reply to that. 

“And besides,” Sephiroth added. “I did take a suppressant this morning. The heat shouldn’t come back.”

He reached for her spoon, plucked it easily from her fingers. Then he fairly attacked her own pile of whipped cream. She let him. It was only fair. Her rut sparked with interest as she watched him suck the spoon clean. 

“You know.... it wouldn’t really be an intel leak if it was just our pack,” she said. “If you didn’t take any more pills this cycle, your heat might come back in a few days.”

He considered this silently as he went on carving small chunks of her cream. Then he caught her gaze. 

“Wouldn’t you mind sharing me?” he said. “I heard alphas could get possessive.”

“I’m only suggesting it for your own benefit,” she countered, trying not to get flustered. “I know better than to get possessive after one night.”

Carefully he lay the spoon down parallel to the other one. Then he reached across the table and took her hands in his. 

The intimacy of the gesture sent her mind whirring. He stared down at their fingers, the teasing mood giving way to something far more honest.

“This was a lot,” he admitted. “I think before we go making any wild plans… I’d like to just take some time to process this, first.”

“I know,” Aeris said quickly. “I wasn’t actually being serious. Genesis’s parties are a lot even for people who regularly attend them.”

He rubbed his thumbs over her hands. “I can imagine.” After a moment she sensed him looking up at her, and she could feel how insistently he was staring at her. Eventually she summoned the courage to meet his gaze. “Even if you know better… do you really feel possessive over me?”

Her heart skipped a beat. She tried to brush it off. “You know I’ve always been possessive over you.” 

Sephiroth didn’t let her get away with it. “But now? After this?”

Trying to ignore how hard her heart was pounding, Aeris said softly, “It’s in my nature.”

He brought one of her hands to his mouth and brushed his lips against the backs of her fingers. She could feel her cheeks burning as she let him do it. 

“I don’t think I’d mind,” he admitted quietly. “If you were possessive over me in that way.”

Her alpha instincts roared with delight.

“What are you saying?” Aeris asked. Then she shook her head. “Gaia, why are we so bad at words. Do you want this - to be a thing?”

“Do I want to be yours?” he rephrased for her. His gaze was liquid Mako and she was falling right into it. “Right now… I think I do.”

“Sephiroth,” she said, grappling for reason. “You’re still coming down from the heat. It’s normal for you to feel that way. You should give it a few days before deciding on this.”

“It doesn’t just feel like the dynamic to me.”

“I know,” she sighed. “I know how real it feels. But, trust me. Give it a few days.”

He gazed at her expression for a while longer. The disappointment she glimpsed in his face made her feel utterly wretched. But she was safeguarding both of their feelings by taking precautions. 

He kissed her fingers, laid her hand down on the table and covered it with both of his. 

“If you say so,” he said. “I suppose you know best.” 

*

She shoved his scent-covered clothes in her washer and lent him some of her own menswear so he could go back to his flat without attracting attention. The jeans became three-quarter jeans on him, but the baggy T-shirt fit at least. 

They both avoided the question of him staying the night. She let him assume that her own rut was still quite present and that she might not want him to stick around to aggravate it. 

He’d been quiet since her rejection. He was still quiet as they stood together in her entrance. Aeris felt terrible. She reminded herself as she stood there, that this was necessary, that he’d be better off alone to come down and do his thinking properly.

It was nearing 2am. She smiled up at him to bid him goodnight. 

The look of utter longing that he gave her completely robbed her of her faculties. 

His heat had simmered down. She couldn’t smell it on him any more. He was completely lucid as he loomed over her and pushed her up against her wall. 

He dipped his head to kiss her. 

She didn’t stop him. 

They parted, breathing in the heavy silence.

“I’m not going to change my mind,” he told her. 

She tried to make light of it; “Wanna bet?”

He smirked. “The loser gets tied to the bed next time?”

“Deal.”

She wanted him to stay so badly she almost blurted it out loud. But she pushed it down firmly, hating this carefully nurtured self-control of hers, hating that she couldn’t just give in to the moment like he had. 

“Thank you,” he murmured. “For all of this.”

Gaia, why did he have to be so intense? She made a pathetic attempt to dismiss him. “Don’t mention it. I’ll - I’ll see you later.”

Another heart-stopping smile, and he finally stepped away, mercifully turning his back on her.

“Goodnight, Aeris.”

“Goodnight.”

She closed the door on him at last, then leaned against it, tilting her head back and closing her eyes.

Gaia. That was certainly… something.

A few moments of silence later, and she was smiling from ear to ear.

*


End file.
